Updating 49ers' football schedules

The Charlotte 49ers announced football games with Eastern Michigan in 2016 and '17 on Thursday.
With the additions of Elon for '14 and '16 also announced, here's an updated look at Charlotte's schedules:

2013 (FCS independent)

Aug. 31, Campbell.

Sept. 7, Chowan; 14, N.C. Central; 21, Bye; 28, at Presbyterian.

Oct. 5, Gardner-Webb; 12, UNC Pembroke; 19, Bye; 26, at Charleston Southern.

Nov. 2, at Coastal Carolina; 9, Wesley (Del.); 16, at Old Dominion; 23, at Morehead State.

2014* (FCS independent)

Aug. 28, at Campbell.

Sept. 6, Johnson C. Smith; 13, at N.C. Central; 20, at Elon; 27, Charleston Southern.

Oct. 4, at Gardner-Webb; 11, at The Citadel; 18, Bye; 25, Old Dominion.

Nov. 1, at Western Carolina; 8, Coastal Carolina; 15, Wesley (Del.); 22, Morehead State.

 

Other seasons' schedules* (FBS, Conference USA):

2015: Georgia State (Sept. 3); Presbyterian (Sept. 12); Temple (Oct. 3).

2016: Eastern Michigan (Sept. 3); at Kansas State (Sept. 10); at Temple (Sept. 24), Elon (Oct. 1).

2017: at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 2).

2019: at Virginia Tech (TBA).

*subject to change

Former 49er Smith gets MLS start

A few non-basketball and -football news items:

-- Former 49ers soccer midfielder Donnie Smith got his first Major League Soccer start last week for the New England Revolution. Smith played 53 minutes in a 1-0 loss against the Chicago Fire.

-- 49ers leftfielder Justin Seager is the Atlantic 10's baseball player of the week. Seager had 10 hits in five games lat week and has a six-game hitting streak heading into Wednesday's game at Duke. He had a .727 on-base percentage, scoring five runs and had five RBIs. He had two three-hit games in a weekend sweep of Siena, including a walk-off double in a Friday victory.

-- The 49ers' women's soccer team announced its spring schedule: March 21, Catawba; April 7, at South Carolina; April 7, Coastal Carolina (at Columbia); 11, Furman; 12, USC Upstate (at Rock Hill's Manchester Meadows); 12, Winthrop (at Manchester Meadows); 19, Appalachian State.

49ers add Elon to football schedule

-- The 49ers have added Elon to their 2014 and ’16 schedules. The 49ers will play at Elon on Sept. 20, 2014, with the Phoenix coming to Charlotte on Oct. 1, 2016.

 

-- Former Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry, who played for Lambert when he was defensive coordinator for the Deacons, was at Monday’s first day of spring practice and will do some volunteer coaching for the 49ers this spring. Curry played for the Oakland Raiders last season.

 

-- Freshman H-back Justin Bolus, who missed fall practice after having two stomach surgeries, is back with the team this spring.

 

-- The 49ers are scheduled to practice again Tuesday and again Friday and Saturday. They will practice four times a week for the next five weeks for a total of 20 sessions. The NCAA limit is 15, but Charlotte can practice more because it’s not considered to officially have a team yet.

 

-- Due to the damp weather Monday, the 49ers practiced on artificial turf of McColl-Richardson Field in their new stadium. The 49ers will normal practice on their natural-grass practice fields adjacent the stadium when conditions are dry.

Observations from A-10 tournament

NEW YORK -- Observations from Charlotte's 72-55 loss against Saint Louis in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament Friday:

 

-- For the 49ers, it’s the National Invitational Tournament or nothing.

At 21-11, Charlotte doesn’t have a resume strong enough to warrant consideration for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

There are three other postseason tournaments nowadays in men’s basketball – the NIT, the College Basketball Invitational and Collegeinsider.com Tournament. But 49ers athletics director Judy Rose said the 49ers would only play in the NIT, if invited.

Rose said she told men’s coach Alan Major and women’s coach Cara Consuegra when they were hired that that the only postseason tournaments the 49ers will play in are the NCAA and the men’s and women’s NITs.

The 49ers women (24-5), upset by Temple in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament last week, are hopeful of receiving an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. Charlotte’s women have made the postseason 10 consecutive seasons, eight times in the WNIT.

-- After making 12-of-15 free throws in a first-round victory against Richmond (including eight of 11 in the final five seconds), Charlotte’s Pierria Henry was just one of three against Saint Louis. Charlotte made eight of nine in the first half, then slumped to four of 13 in the second half.-- The 49ers outrebounded Saint Louis 39-34, but had just 10 offensive rebounds and were outscored 28-24 in the paint by the Billikens.

-- Richmond coach Chris Mooney, who had two technical fouls and was ejected from Thursday’s loss against Charlotte, won’t face disciplinary action from the Atlantic 10, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

-- It was a tough tournament for 49ers guards not named Henry. Sophomore E. Victor Nickerson was a combined one-of-10 from the field, sophomore Terrence Williams four-of-17 and freshman Denzel Ingram one-of-10.

-- The Atlantic 10 will hold its Inaugural Legends Celebration before Saturday’s semifinals. Cedric Maxwell and Paula Bennett are Charlotte’s legends.

Official's statement on Richmond's 1st technical

Atlantic 10 supervisor of officials Reggie Greenwood's statement on the first technical foul at the end of Thursday's game:

“With (4.7) seconds remaining during the first free throw by Charlotte #15 (Henry), Richmond #34 (Williams) pushed Charlotte #21 (Clayton) to the floor after the free throw was made.

“By rule, deadball contact by (Williams) – two shots and the ball at halfcourt (for Charlotte).

“(Henry) shot the remainder of his free throw (one shot). Any player can shoot the technical. The ball is then put in play at halfcourt.”

Timeline: the final 6 seconds

Here's how the final six seconds of Charlotte's 68-63 victory against Richmond in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament broke down:

 

5.9 seconds remaining

-- Richmond’s Cedrick Lindsay makes two free throws, giving Spiders 63-60 lead.

4.7 seconds

-- Before he can shoot a 3-pointer, Spiders foul Charlotte’s Pierria Henry, who will shoot one-and-one.

-- Henry makes first free throw, cutting lead to 63-61.

-- Richmond’s Derrick Williams shoves Charlotte’s Willie Clayton to floor after Henry’s free throw, a dead-ball technical foul.

-- Henry makes second of one-and-one, making it 63-62 Richmond.

-- Henry makes both both technical free throws, giving Charlotte a 64-63 lead and the ball.

2.8 seconds

-- Henry is fouled and is ruled to be shooting from 3-point range, giving him three free throws. Richmond coach Chris Mooney argues, is called for two technicals and is ejected.

-- Henry makes two-of-three free throws on shooting foul, giving Charlotte 66-63 lead.

-- Henry stays at the line for four more technicals, makes two of them for 68-63 lead.

 

-- Richmond's Lindsay misses a desperation heave as the buzzer sounds. -- David Scott

Storify: Twitter reaction to Charlotte-Richmond finish

Henry, Clayton get A-10 honors

Charlotte sophomore point guard Pierria Henry was named to the Atlantic 10's all-defensive team Tuesday and freshman forward Willie Clayton made the league's all-rookie team.

Henry, also the league's co-defensive player of the week, is tied for the league lead with 2.8 steals per game. He also averages 5.3 rebounds, second on the team. At 6-4, he has rebounded in double figures five times this season, including in Charlotte's last two regular-season games

Clayton, a 6-8 forward, leads the 49ers in rebounding at 6.2 per game. He leads the league in field-goal percentage (58.6) and is second in offensive rebounding (3.1).

Temple's Khalif Wyatt was named the league's player of the year; Saint Louis's Jim Crews the coach of the year; Xavier's Semaj Christon the rookie of the year; Virginia Commonwealth's Briante Weber the defensive player of the year; Saint Louis's Cody Ellis the sixth man of the year and Xavier's Travis Taylor most improved.

All conference
First team
Khalif Wyatt, Temple; Ramon Galloway, La Salle; Rotnei Clark, Butler; Dwayne Evans, Saint Louis; Chaz Williams, Massachusetts.
Second team
Juvonte Reddic, VCU; Treveon Graham, VCU; Semaj Christon, Xavier; Tyreek Duren, La Salle; Kevin Dillard, Dayton.
Third team
Darien Brothers, Richmond; Donald Roberts, Saint Joseph's; Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis; Jordair Jett, Saint Louis; Travis Taylor, Xavier.
All-Academic
Andrew Smith, Butler; Evans, Saint Louis; Nemanja Mikic, George Washington; T.J. DiLeo, Temple; Nikola Malesevic, Rhode Island.
All-Defensive
Weber, VCU, Jett, Saint Louis; Pierria Henry, Charlotte; Roosevelt Jones, Butler; Darius Theus, VCU.
All-Rookie
Semaj Christon, Xavier; Kellen Dunham, Butler; Derrick Colter, Duquesne; Willie Clayton, Charlotte; Melvin Johnson, VCU.

49ers' Henry A-10's co-player of week

Charlotte 49ers' point guard Pierria Henry, who had double-doubles in the past two games, is the Atlantic 10's co-player of the week.

 

Henry had 18 points and 10 rebounds in an 89-87 overtime victory against Duquesne, and followed that with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Saint Joseph's on Saturday.

 

Henry is averaging 10.0 points and averages 5.3 rebounds, second on the team. He also averages 2.8 steals, tied for first in the league.

Henry shares the honor with Temple guard Khalif Wyatt, who averaged 24.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 4.0 assists last week.
 

 

Observations on St. Joe's game

Observations from Charlotte's 52-40 victory Saturday against Saint Joseph's:

-- It's not official, but it appears the 49ers will be the ninth seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament next week in Brooklyn, N.Y., and play Richmond (18-13, 8-8) at noon Thursday. The Spiders beat the 49ers 81-61 in January in the Robins Center, when Darien Brothers scored 39 points on 8-of-11 3-point shooting.

-- Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli seemed completely embarrassed by his team's performance, which included 29.2 percent shooting, four assists and being outrebounded 42-30. The 40 points scored was the Hawks' lowest since 2007. But Charlotte's defense had something to do with that, too. It's the kind of physical, disruptive defense the 49ers played early in the season, remember?

-- The 49ers haven't exactly blasted their way out of that slump that included six losses in seven games. But in beating last-place Duquesne in overtime then getting past Saint Joseph's, the 49ers did what they had to do to make the tournament: Win two games that they needed to win, and not rely on someone else's misfortune to do so.

-- That said, remember a few weeks ago when the tournament bubble the 49ers were on was the NCAA's, not the Atlantic 10's.

-- Great moment at the end of the game when Colby Lewis nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The assist came from Pierria Henry, who credited Lewis with great leadership and mentorship over his time in the program.

-- Willie Clayton had his best offensive game in a while, scoring 12 points on six of eight shooting. Clayton consistently posted up effectively against the Hawks big guys. Martelli said Charlotte's entry passing "is to be emulated."

49ers' Hailey A-10 women's player of year

Charlotte 49ers senior forward Jennifer Hailey, the Atlantic 10's leading rebounder and ranking near the top in several other statistical categories, is the league's women's basketball player of the year.
 
Hailey, a 6-foot-3 graduate of Marshville's Forest Hills High who has led the 49ers to a 24-4 record), averages 11.9 rebounds and 15.4 points, third in the league. She is also ranks fourth in field-goal percentage (50.9), second in blocks (2.6), second in offensive rebounding (4.5) and first in defensive rebounding (7.4).
 
Hailey is the first 49ers player to receiver player-of-the-year honors since Kristen Wilson in the Sun Belt in 1986-87.
 
"I could not be more proud of Jenn to receive this honor," 49ers coach Cara Consuegra said in a statement. "It was nice to see the coaches recognize the great effort she had as well all season. She has led the way for us, not only statistically, but also as our heartbeat on and off the court. For this being the first one for the program in 25 years is an amazing accomplishment in which the whole team played a part."
 
Hailey also made the league's all-defense first team.
 
49ers teammates Amanda Dowe -- who like Hailey averages a double-double -- and point guard Ny Hammonds were selected to the third team. Dowe averages 10.6 points and 11.5 rebounds, while Hammonds, who played at Concord High, leads the league with 6.7 per game, which ranks eighth nationally.
 
The 49ers, seeded second in the Atlantic 10 tournament, open play in the quarterfinals Saturday against the winner of Friday's game between Temple and Xavier.

2012-13 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Awards
First Team
Jennifer Hailey, Charlotte
Andrea Hoover, Dayton
Chatilla van Grinsven, Saint Joseph's
Erin Rooney, Fordham
Wumi Agunbiade, Duquesne

Second Team
Ally Malott, Dayton
Daress McClung, Butler
Marah Strickland, Fordham
Robyn Parks, VCU
Victoria Macaulay, Temple

Third Team
Amanda Dowe, Charlotte
Ny Hammonds, Charlotte
Amber Gray, Xavier
Erin Shields, Saint Joseph's
Sam MacKay, Dayton

All-Defensive Team
Jennifer Hailey, Charlotte
Arielle Collins, Fordham
Jocelyn Floyd, Duquesne
Natasha Cloud, Saint Joseph's
Victoria Macaulay, Temple

All-Rookie Team
Amber Deane, Dayton
April Robinson, Duquesne
Jessica Pellechio, VCU
Kelly Austria, Dayton
Samantha Clark

All-Academic Team
Andrea Hoover, Dayton
Erin Shields, Saint Joseph's
Jessica Pachko, Xavier
Rachel Bilney, Richmond
Tara Booker, George Washington

Player of the Year: Jennifer Hailey, Charlotte
Coach of the Year: Jim Jabir, Dayton
Defensive Player of the Year: Jocelyn Floyd, Duquesne
Rookie of the Year: Amber Deane, Dayton
Most Improved Player: Erin Shields, Saint Joseph's
Sixth Player of the Year: Olivia Applewhite, Dayton

 

Saturday sets up as odd day for 49ers

Wednesday was an eventful night in the Atlantic 10, nowhere more so than in Pittsburgh, where the Charlotte 49ers snapped a four-game losing streak in unlikely fashion with an 89-87 overtime victory against Duquesne.

Elsewhere, Xavier won at Saint Louis 77-66 in overtime, putting an end to the 16th-ranked Billikens' 11-game winning streak. No. 21 VCU pulled into a first-place tie with Saint Louis by beating cross-town rival Richmond 93-82.

Other results further down the standings had a more direct impact on Charlotte: George Washington's 84-70 loss against La Salle dropped the Colonials' into 13th place and allowed the 49ers to move one game ahead of GW and into a four-way tie for ninth with Dayton, Richmond and St. Bonaventure.

That sets up what will be an odd day Saturday for the 49ers, who lose any combination of tiebreakers with the three teams they're tied with, as well as with GW. Charlotte (19-10, 7-8) can qualify for the 12-team Atlantic 10 tournament next week in Brooklyn by beating Saint Joseph's (17-11, 8-7) on Saturday or if GW loses a home game against streaking Dayton (which has won four of five).

The GW-Dayton game is at 2 p.m.; the Charlotte-St. Joe's game is at 7. So the 49ers will know all they need to know by the time they tip off with the Hawks. They'll either already be in if GW loses, or face the task of having to beat a Hawks team that's won its last two league games (against Fordham and Rhode Island) by an average of 31.5 points.

-- Charlotte's rally from a 17-point second-half deficit against Duquesne wasn't the largest comeback in school history, but it was one of them. Charlotte's biggest comeback remains against Tennessee in 1995, when the 49ers trailed by 26 with 15:04 remaining. Charlotte eventually won 79-76 in what at the time was the fourth largest comeback of all time in college basketball, according to ESPN.

-- What point guard Pierria Henry is doing on the boards this season is amazing. The 6-4 Henry had 10 rebounds against Duquesne (all defensive), the fourth time this season he's rebounded in double figures. He also had 11 against Texas State and VCU and 10 against Rhode Island. He's averaging 5.1 per game. Henry filled up the box score Wednesday, also with 18 points, three steals and five assists before fouling out. The 49ers also got a big rebounding game from another unlikely source: guard Terrence Williams, who had 12 to go along with 15 points and five assists. The rebounding of Henry and Williams was needed because freshmen forwards Willie Clayton (3) and Darion Clark (0) spent much of the game in foul trouble and had off nights.

-- Williams also had five turnovers and Henry had four, a continuing problem for Charlotte. The 49ers had 20 against Duquesne, and they now average 15.4 per game, which translates into a paltry .8 assist/turnover ratio. Another danger area: the Dukes made 12-of-21 3-pointers, the fifth consecutive game a Charlotte opponent has hit more than 40 percent of its long-range shots.

-- Other reasons for the 49ers to feel optimistic about this weekend, and, potentially, beyond: Senior center Chris Braswell's 28 points against Duquesne were a season high and three points off his career high of 31 against UMass last season. Braswell also had five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. And freshman guard Ivan Benkovic followed his career-high 15-point effort against St. Bonaventure with nine against Duquesne, a night that included a key steal and 3-pointer late in regulation. Benkovic is 8-of-15 from 3-point range in the last two games.